PlayStation Blog reveals details about how the Satsui no Hado has changed Akuma for Street Fighter 6

Akuma's gameplay trailer for Street Fighter 6 was recently unveiled. The game will forever be changed when he launches on May 22.

Shortly after his trailer dropped, the PlayStation Blog provided a breakdown on how Akuma will function in Street Fighter 6. As stated on the blog, "Akuma’s move set will be familiar to long-time fans, but the Satsui no Hado has unlocked new abilities."

First off, it's stated that Akuma will have fast walk speed and long-reaching normals that do well at controlling space. These are pretty typical traits for Akuma throughout the Street Fighter series.

Akuma's Gou Hadoken is back, but it's undergone some interesting changes. It would appear that Akuma's basic fireball and his red fireball have effectively been merged together with just a slight variation in the inputs.

"His infamous fireball, Gou Hadoken is back, and can be charged up so that a 'red fireball' is released instead, giving Akuma more options upon hit or block," said the PlayStation Blog of Akuma's fireball special.

Based on what we saw in the trailer, Akuma's projectile can be partially charged to have two hits. Doing this will allow the projectile to pass through most non-Overdrive fireball specials.

However, fully charging the special will cause Akuma to throw out his classic red fireball. Ryu attempts to combat Akuma from afar with a Denjin Charged fireball, but the red fireball ends up beating it clean.

Needless to say, it's implied that the red fireball will always have three hits. Of course, it's important to understand that Street Fighter 6's projectile rules are different compared to previous Street Fighter entries as even one hit of an Overdrive projectile special will beat an infinite number of normal projectile hits.

The next notable thing about Akuma is how his Ashura Senku, the teleport, has changed in Street Fighter 6. We're given the impression that it has more vulnerability now, but also has a command grab follow up on the forward advancing version.

"Like his previous iterations, Akuma uses Ashura Senku to glide on the battlefield cloaked in shadows. Be wary of using this ability since it can be stopped mid-way by an opponent’s attacks. However, Akuma has honed this move’s vulnerabilities and can now use Oboro Throw during the approach to surprise opponents," stated the PlayStation Blog.

Adamant Flame is a brand new special move for Akuma. It appears to function similarly to Ryu's Joudan Sokutogeri special (donkey kick), though the Overdrive version will only wall splat the opponent rather than cause a wall bounce.

"Adamant Flame is one of Akuma’s new moves, where he performs a forward thrust engulfed in flames," continued the PlayStation Blog. "This move is useful in combos and for exploiting vulnerable opponents due to its long reach. The OD version will wall splat opponents, opening up more opportunities in the corner."

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Akuma's Demon Flip is now called the Demon Raid. Based on its description, it appears that the special functions pretty identically to how it did in Street Fighter 5 in that it provided an overhead, a low slide, and a dive kick, but it now also has a version where Akuma can end the special early in return for less recovery, similar to Cammy's Hooligan Combination.

Additionally, it should be noted that the Demon Raid's Overdrive version will have two additional follow ups with the air fireball and air hurricane kick. As a result, anti-airing the Overdrive special will be particularly difficult.

Messatsu Gohado, Akuma's level 1 super, seems to function pretty identically to Ryu's level 1 Super Art. However, the Tenma Gozanku is an alternate level 1 Super Art for Akuma that's used while airborne.

Towards the end of the blog, it's noted that Akuma uniquely has two Critical Arts. The new thing about Akuma's Raging Demon is that it can now be used as a combo ender.

"Finally, the move you’ve all been waiting for: Shun Goku Satsu or the 'Raging Demon,'" declared the PlayStation Blog. "This second Level 3 Super Art can only be performed when his Vitality is low enough for a Critical Art and can be used to end combos. This time, he allows you to see what happens during the one-second worth of nightmares."